Fix Me Not...
We need
help.We need desperate and professional help.”We” are the youth of this
nation.We are vile, lazy, indecent and a threat to society and tradition. These
are not my views but the views of some groups, people and organizations. They
have flogged us on Valentine’s day,send us to jail on archaic laws and
threatened us with death and ouster from community if we believe in love.
First, we had some political factions telling us we are too western and that we
don’t respect Indian traditions.Then we had Khap Panchayats telling us that we
should be controlled that freedom for women and that freedom to choose your
life partner is non-existent.If that wasn’t enough,enter a guy in the police
uniform not to uphold the law but the “decency of the society”.Vasant Dhoble
has been responsible for busting drug rackets,raiding restaurants and eateries
with irregular alcohol licenses and arresting women on the basis of their
clothing.Jury is still out on whether his actions are making us a better
society,are his dealings completely honest and whether he was in the purview of
the law to do so.But what it has done is scare the youth that having fun is
wrong and also given the hardliners a hero who gives their conservative agenda
a huge boost. No one argues with the strict action against drug use and drunk
driving. But morality is not wearing what your society orders you to and
morality is not abstaining from alcohol. Morality is judging between wrong and
right and judging what actions can harm others around you. The Indian Youth is
not perfect. We make mistakes and are lost at some point in our lives.But you
know who needs more help than us? The “guardians” of societal code and conduct.
The archaic
and sexist nature of old customs and traditions have long been exposed and
taught to our nation.Yet, a faction of society is interested in reviving those
practices. They say women can’t wear jeans and use mobile phones, that they
should fall in line with what the man wants and that to be on a date on 14th
February is a crime against the society.They disregard the Constitution of our
country and say that all these measures are to protect the women of the society
and maintain order in the society. Their skewed views have given shameful
conclusions that what a woman wears tempts men to molest her. A woman has full
right to wear what she wants.If you don’t like it,make your views known and if
possible avoid her.A woman has the right to listen to her parents and whosoever
she thinks fit to tell her about her clothing. But let me make one thing clear,
a man’s shameful actions of molestation and abuse are independent of any
extraneous factors.Its his own doing and it’s a cause of deep sadness that a
woman is blamed. Women have right to safety and respect. If anyone closely
analyses these customs,one will realise that they are meant to protect the
“natural” order of male dominance in our society.There is nothing wrong with
having a nightlife as long as we are responsible and don’t hurt anyone.Its
completely fine for women to wear jeans in rural areas.The eve-teasers and
vulgar men need to be chided ,not the girls.A mobile phone helps in connecting
one to loved ones. But there are rural areas where the women have been
brainwashed into accepting the diktats of village heads. And if all this wasn’t
enough,yesterday a large group of thugs under a so-called political
wing,attacked a Mangalore resort where 6 youngsters including a minor were
staying,with the permission of their parents and attacked them.They beat up the
girls and boys and chased anyone who tried to escape.So Mangaloreans next time
you want to have a stayover or want to party,its won’t be enough that your
parents have given their consent.you need to write to the leaders of this moral
police and ask them for their consent too! The wings justify by saying-The
girls today are crossing the line and that it’s against the Indian Culture.
Some even allege prostitution without any empirical evidence.More details might
unfold about Mangalore,but we can all agree that nothing calls for beating of
women especially minors.
What I find
interesting is that these attacks and protests are never done within the purview
of the law or with the support of police.Why? Because what these groups aim to
do is not within the purview of law.If one has a suspicion of some prostitution
or drug use,one could simply alert authorities and most importantly verify such
suspicion. Busy beating the youth? How about you lend a hand at the juvenile
centre and reform some juvenile delinquents. Sending threats to girls about
their dressing sense? Why not protests for justice for the family whose
daughter was molested. Restricting girls from drinking and partying? How about
you educate youngsters about responsible driving. You can either be effective
to cure a problem or just spread chaos and violence.Sadly,I live in the country
where the society often opts for the latter.